Determination of Some Neutral Volatile Constituents in Ten Commercial Cheddar Cheeses

Abstract

Cheddar cheese samples were analyzed by a gas-entrainment, on-column trapping gas-liquid chromatographic technique. Two-gram samples of the intact cheese were sufficient for obtaining good chromatograms of the more volatile constituents. The concentrations of acetaldehyde and acetone varied little between samples; whereas the concentrations of ethanol, butanone and 2-butanol varied widely between samples. The concentration of ethanol ranged from 5.5-620.0 ppm. Dimethyl sulfide, ethyl acetate,N-propanol and ethyl butyrate were also identified in the highly volatile fraction. The low level of certain compounds may indicate that they do not contribute to the flavor of the cheese. Acetone, for example, was always present in concentrations of less than one ppm, a concentration well below the flavor threshold value for acetone.